The number of vacancies for industry specialists increased in the southern and eastern regions, despite the staff shortage
In July 2026, the demand for workers in the construction sector showed significant regional differentiation. Employers opened the most vacancies in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. This was reported by Economichna Pravda citing OLX Robota, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
Analytical data from the platform shows that the number of job offers in regional centers of the east and south has increased significantly over the year. Kropyvnytskyi led with a 27% increase, followed by Dnipro at 23% and Poltava at 16%. Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, and Sumy also recorded positive growth between 4% and 14%.
Regional labor market disparities
At the same time, the opposite trend is observed in the central and western regions: the number of job postings there has generally decreased. Vacancies in Kyiv dropped by 12%, in Lviv, Rivne, Vinnytsia, and Ivano-Frankivsk by 10%, and in Ternopil by 8%.
Conversely, the number of applications from candidates grew most actively in the west of the country. In Uzhhorod, this figure reached 46%, in Lviv 41%, and in Khmelnytskyi 29%. In the eastern and southern regions, applicant activity remains low or is even declining, indicating an deepening staff shortage in those areas.
Wages and competition for specialists
Despite stable vacancy numbers across the country, the median wage in the industry has risen by 22% to 38,125 UAH. The highest pay is offered to facade workers at 72,500 UAH, plasterers at 71,250 UAH, and tilers at 71,000 UAH.
According to Maria Abdullina, head of OLX Robota, businesses are forced to compete for talent due to an escalating staffing crisis. The main reasons cited are mobilization processes and the migration of the population abroad.
Research shows that 68% of companies expect the labor market crisis to worsen next year. Employers plan to adjust hiring approaches, invest in staff training, and recruit demographic groups that have historically been less involved in construction work.
Photo: Economichna Pravda
Read also: Consumer prices in Ukraine rose by 7.7% in July: NBU forecast
